June 10, 2015

Would you believe it?

Half way round our walk this afternoon, I was enjoying my usual cooling dip when I heard a jangling sound close by me. Mum thought it was another dog, with a rattly tag, or maybe a cat with a bell on its collar, or that maybe my own tag was coming loose and making a different sound. She looked around her, called me to her and checked my tag, and decided she must have been “hearing things.”

I heard the jingling move up into a tree behind me.

We set off again and the jingling followed us. We turned round in time to see a B I G bird swooping from a tree near the stream to a dead tree right next to us. The bird wasn’t like any I’ve seen before and had a huge, scary beak and long straps dangling from its feet, and two jingling bells.Aha!

We didn’t go any further for a long time after that. Mum talked into that little black thing she sometimes keeps in her pocket and then we just played with a ball I’d found for a g e s and a g e s! The bird watched me as I ran up and down, and kept an eye on Mum too. She talked to it all the time and it seemed to like being near her.

After a very long time, I was surprised to see Dad and a nice lady with a big box walking towards us.

The lady held something dead and tasty-looking in her outstretched gloved hand, and called out to the bird. I was really hoping the meat was for me, but I had to sit with Mum and watch the bird swoop down and tear up and eat the treat. It didn’t leave any for me!

Never mind, Mum, Dad and the lady seemed very pleased and I walked at heel with the nice lady (because I really liked her 😀 AND she was carrying the smelly, feedy glove😉 ) all the way back to her truck, as Dad carried the bird, safely in the big box.

The lady who recaptured the Harris Hawk and looked after him until his owner was found is from